Prayer of the Christophers

Father, grant that I may be
a bearer of Christ Jesus, your Son.
Allow me to warm
the often cold, impersonal scene
of modern life with your burning love.
Strengthen me by your Holy Spirit
to carry out my mission of changing the world
or some definite part of it for the better.
Despite my lamentable failures,
bring home to me that my advantages
are your blessings to be shared with others.
Make me more energetic in setting right
what I find wrong with the world
instead of complaining about it.
Nourish in me a practical desire
to build up rather than tear down,
to reconcile instead of polarize,
to go out on a limb rather than crave security.
Never let me forget
that it is far better to light one candle
than to curse the darkness,
and to join my light,
one day, with yours.
Amen.

~ reposted from livingwithchrist.us

The Light and the Challenge

In the blazing heat
the trees and grasses golden;
they are candleflame and firelight.

In the shimmering cold
the frogs and crickets amplify;
they are thunderclap and echo.

In the winding cave
the dripstone spikes lengthen
into mountain and valley

where the heat blinds and the cold paralyzes,
the climb and the cliff wear and scatter,
abandonment and fright surround;

I can not see, and yet I know
the living light that radiates within,
illuminates the cracks and begs me to begin.

“Any man who follows me will not be walking in the dark: he will have the light of life, says the Lord.” (John 8:12; Universalis)